Jane the Virgin has definitely not been a show I’ve thought of watching, but I know a ton of people that do. I am not one to love romantic-comedy types of shows. Some of my favorites are actually Game of Thrones and  Stranger Things. I decided to give the show a try and ended up liking it a lot. I expected the show to be cheesy, not amusing, and all-around boring. In fact, I observed the very opposite and found myself cracking a few smiles. Although I only watched three, 42 minute episodes, I gathered a decent understanding of the show and the messages it portrayed.

Only watching three episodes won’t let me give the whole rundown, but I’ll tell a few things. The show is an adaptation of a Venezuelan telenovela, Juana la Virgen. The show has a “Latin Love Narrator” speaking throughout the episodes, all the way to aspects of crime mixed in as well. The main character, Jane, is in a two-year long relationship with her boyfriend who she plans on saving herself till marriage for. She finds herself in some life-altering situations; the biggest one is accidentally becoming pregnant when she has never even had sex. Having to deal with her grandmother, a romantic interest, and crazy characters along the way makes for a very amusing show to watch.

In almost every show I have seen, the main character is always doing wrong. They go against their loved ones, friends, and doing what is right. In Jane the Virgin, the exact opposite happens. With everything thrown at her, Jane always makes the right decisions, even when it’s the harder way out. I think this aspect of the show is the most important. Although the scenarios in the show are completely unrealistic, it gives viewers encouragement that doing the right thing is good. During the three episodes, the biggest thing exemplified was to not lie because it will end up snowballing into more problems.

The show reaches to almost all women but mainly ages 15-30.  Something that surprised me was that the show did not have more people who identified as Latino watching. Only 24% of viewers were Latino and 54% were non-Hispanic white. I believe this is due to Gina Rodriguez being the star of the show. When looking at her fans’ demographics, over 50% identified as non-Hispanic white, and most of the things she appears on has a mainly white following. Considering this show was not a full-on telenovela, could be due to why there was not a larger Hispanic fanbase. Stars like Jaime Camil, who is a Mexican actor featured in tons of telenovelas, has over 40% of his fans identifying as Hispanic.

Obviously, the show holds some slight stereotypical roles, but it uses the roles just to break them. With one of the largest Latino casts on American television, all of the characters are shown with high-paying jobs. The boss, whose body substances were injected into Jane, was a millionaire-hotel owner. Out of the other Latinos in the show one was a doctor and the other a famous actor. Jane’s job is a waitress, and she is in school to become a teacher. The difference in careers show how Latinos don’t just have low-paying jobs. Latinos are also strongly associated with the Catholic religion and their tight-knit family ties. This is shown through Jane’s grandmother wanting to stay away from intercourse until marriage. In this case, Jane, her mother, and grandmother are all very religious, but that does not always hold true. The three of them live together and tell each other everything, but it is shown in a beautiful, loving way. Instead of the show criticizing Latinos, I think the show does a wonderful job of crushing some of the biggest stereotypes associated with them.

Although Jane the Virgin does not hold the largest Latino following, it does send very important messages for everyone to see. The show shoves common Latino stereotypes right into the ground. I didn’t think I would enjoy this show, but I am going to add it to something I’d like to finish in the future.

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